A CTA Purple Line trains passes construction at Hubbard and Wells.
Case Foundation is on the case at Hubbard and Wells, where Centrum Partners is developing not one, but two new buildings for River North: a 9-story office building at 412 North Wells Street, and a 23-story, 193-unit apartment tower at 221 West Hubbard Street. You can get a great view off progress by hopping a Purple or Brown Line train at Merchandise Mart and riding north.
**Better yet, get on a train at Chicago Avenue, get in the last car, ride south, and take a lap through The Loop. Back-of-the-train views are the best.)**
The two Hirsch Associates projects got foundation permits a week apart at the end of June and early July, the parking lot it used to be was immediately fenced off, and Case brought their big toys in to start drilling caissons. Once that’s all done, Linn-Mathes takes full control of the process, getting these two glass edifices off the ground and heading skyward.
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- This is the best way to watch construction, but most of us aren’t allowed to stand there.
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- The construction site, from the northeast corner of Hubbard and Wells.
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- The unmistakable blue and gold of Case Foundation.
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- Rebar field.
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- Waiting their turn.
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- Train view.
Building Up Chicago 